This study employed stable isotopes of δ18O and δ2H in conjunction with other hydrological parameters to understand the origin, inferred residence time, and seasonal effect of groundwater in the shallow aquifers of the eastern Dahomey Basin. A total of 230 groundwater samples (97 in the wet season and 133 in the dry season) were collected from the borehole and shallow aquifer between May 2017 and April 2018. Groundwater analysis included major ions and δ18O and δ2H, isotopes data in precipitation from three selected Global Network of Isotope in Precipitation (GNIP) stations across West Africa, Douala in Cameroon, Cotonou in Republic of Benin, and Kano in Nigeria were used in comparative analysis. Results of the hydrochemical model revealed Ca-HCO3 and Na-Cl as dominant water types with other mixing water types such as Ca–SO4, Ca–Cl, Na–SO4, and K–Mg–HCO3, which characterised early stage of groundwater transformation as it infiltrates through vadose zone into the aquifer. δ18O and δ2H precipitation data from the three stations plotted along with the groundwater samples indicate recent meteoric water origin, with little effect of evaporation during the dry season. The plot of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) against δ18O showed clustering of the water samples between the recharge and the evaporation zone with dry season samples trending towards increased TDS, which is an indication of the subtle effect of evaporation during this period. Tracing groundwater types along the flow paths within the basin is problematic and attributed to the heterogeneity of the aquifer with anthropogenic influences. Moreover, a comparison of the δ18O and δ2H isotopic compositions of groundwater and precipitation in the three selected stations, with their respective deuterium excess (D-excess) values established low evapotranspiration induced isotope enrichment, which could be due to higher precipitation and humidity in the region resulting in low isotope fractionation; hence, little effect of seasonal variations. The study, therefore, suggested groundwater recharge in the shallow aquifer in the eastern Dahomey Basin is of meteoric origin with a short residence time of water flows from soils through the vadose zone to the aquifers.


Background: The International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) LR2 model has been shown to provide a reasonably accurate preoperative classification of ovarian tumors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the IOTA LR2 model in distinguishing benign and malignant adnexal masses in the Singapore population. Methods: This was a retrospective study in a tertiary referral center. Women who attended the Gynecology Unit at Singapore General Hospital with evidence of adnexal tumor on ultrasound examination were evaluated using the IOTA LR2 protocol. The LR2 model was then used to calculate the probability of malignancy. Likelihood ratio of malignancy greater than 10% classifies the mass as malignant. The preoperative diagnosis of women who underwent surgery within 120 days of ultrasound examination was correlated with the final histopathological result. Results: Of the 353 women included in the final study population, 223 had benign disease, 29 had borderline malignant, and 101 had invasive cancer. The IOTA LR2 model had a sensitivity of 79.2% (95% confidence interval (CI), 71.2-85.8%) and a specificity of 79.4% (95% CI, 73.5-84.5%). The area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.80 - 0.89). Conclusions: The IOTA LR2 model maintained its overall diagnostic accuracy when used in our local population. Although it is useful as a first-step test for triaging women with ovarian masses for surgery, a second-stage test would be required to minimize the number of women with benign disease being offered surgery for suspected ovarian malignancy. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2021;10(3):67-72 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jcgo758


Diapause is an important seasonal adaptation for arthropods in temperate regions. Recent global warming has had a profound effect on the timing of diapause induction, but the potential for evolutionary changes in diapause attributes remains largely unknown because of a scarcity of information about genetic architecture in these traits. Genetic variation in diapause incidence within a population and the genetic correlation with different environmental conditions are both important for predicting evolutionary responses to climatic changes. The main aim of this study was to determine these parameters at temperatures representative of the winter season (stationary 18–20 °C) by using 12 isofemale lines established from females of a single population of the adult‐diapausing spider mite Tetranychus pueraricola (Acari: Tetranychidae). To compare the response between field and laboratory, their ancestral phenotypes were randomly chosen from diapausing (eight) or non‐diapausing (four) females. Diapause incidence was investigated at 18, 19, and 20 °C under LD 10:14 h conditions with two to five replicates for each strain. At 18 °C, more than 90% of the females entered diapause, and the genetic variation among strains (intraclass correlation coefficient; ICC) was relatively small (44%), whereas highly variable diapause incidences were observed for the warmer conditions (both 87% ICC). The correlation between temperatures was as high as 0.79 between 19 and 20 °C, whereas the correlation estimates between 18 and either 19 or 20 °C were still positive, but not significant. In addition, the analyses demonstrated the existence of variation in the entire response curves (significant genotype × environment interaction). These results demonstrate that significant genetic variation in response curves is maintained in this population, and accordingly this population has a capacity to respond to climatic changes. Crossing reaction curves across temperatures may prevent the fixation of a single optimal response curve, and maintain genetic variation at each temperature.


We consider continuous-time sparse stochastic processes from which we have only a finite number of noisy/noiseless samples. Our goal is to estimate the noiseless samples (denoising) and the signal in-between (interpolation problem). By relying on tools from the theory of splines, we derive the joint a priori distribution of the samples and show how this probability density function can be factorized. The factorization enables us to tractably implement the maximum a posteriori and minimum mean-square error (MMSE) criteria as two statistical approaches for estimating the unknowns. We compare the derived statistical methods with well-known techniques for the recovery of sparse signals, such as the ℓ1 norm and Log (ℓ1-ℓ0 relaxation) regularization methods. The simulation results show that, under certain conditions, the performance of the regularization techniques can be very close to that of the MMSE estimator.


Harvest weed seed control (HWSC) systems have been developed to exploit the high proportions of seed retained at maturity by the annual weeds rigid ryegrass, wild radish, bromegrass, and wild oats. To evaluate the efficacy of HWSC systems on rigid ryegrass populations, three systems, the Harrington Seed Destructor (HSD), chaff carts, and narrow-windrow burning were compared at 24 sites across the western and southern wheat production regions of Australia. HWSC treatments were established at harvest (Nov. – Dec.) in wheat crops with low to moderate rigid ryegrass densities (1 to 26 plants m-2). Rigid ryegrass counts at the commencement of the next growing season (Apr. – May) determined that HWSC treatments were similarly effective in reducing emergence. Chaff carts, narrow-windrow burning, or HSD systems act similarly on rigid ryegrass seed collected during harvest to deliver substantial reductions in subsequent rigid ryegrass populations by restricting seedbank inputs. On average, population densities were reduced by 60%, but there was considerable variation between sites (37 to 90%) as influenced by seed production and the residual seedbank. Given the observed high rigid ryegrass seed production levels at crop maturity it is clear that HWSC has a vital role in preventing seedbank inputs in Australian conservation cropping systems. Nomenclature: Bromegrass, Bromus spp. Roth BRODI; rigid ryegrass, Lolium rigidum Gaudin LOLRI; wild oat, Avena fatua L. AVEFA; wild radish, Raphanus raphanistrum L. RAPRA; wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


We present a subspace-based scheme for the estimation of the poles (angular-frequencies and damping-factors) of a sum of damped and delayed sinusoids. In our model each component is supported over a different time frame, depending on the delay parameter. Classical subspace based methods are not suited to handle signals with varying time-support. In this contribution, we propose a solution based on the best rank-(R/sub 1/, R/sub 2/, R/sub 3/) approximation of a partially structured Hankel tensor on which the data are mapped. We show, by means of an example, that our approach outperforms the current tensor and matrix-based approaches in terms of the accuracy of the damping parameter estimates.


A novel modeling approach for the seismic response assessment of rocking frames is presented. Rocking frames are systems with columns that are allowed to fully, or partially, uplift. Despite the apparent lack of a mechanism to resist lateral forces, they have a remarkable capacity against earthquake loading. Rocking frames are found in old structures, for example, ancient monuments, but it is also a promising design concept for modern structures such as bridges or buildings. The proposed modeling can be implemented in a general‐purpose structural analysis software, avoiding the difficulties that come with the need of formulating and solving specifically tailored differential equations, or the use of detailed computational models. Different configurations of a rocking portal frame problem are examined. The model is based on rigid, or flexible, beam elements that describe the members of the frame. Negative‐stiffness rotational springs are smartly positioned at the rocking interfaces in order to simulate the rocking restoring moment, while the mass and the rotational moment of inertia are considered either lumped or distributed. Both the cases of rigid and flexible piers/columns are discussed, while it is shown that frames with restrained columns can be considered in a straightforward manner. A simple alternative based on an equivalent oscillator that follows the generalized rocking equation of motion is also investigated. The efficiency and the accuracy of the proposed modeling is demonstrated with the aid of carefully chosen case studies.


For pt.1 see ibid., vol.10, no.1, p.73-82 (1993). The hardware structures and tools used to implement built-in self-test (BIST) pattern generation and response analysis concepts are reviewed. The authors describe testing approaches for general and structured logic, including ROMs, RAMs, and PLAs. They illustrate BIST techniques with real-world examples. >


Magnetic anomaly patterns in the northeast Pacific Ocean combined with plate theory indicate that a trench existed offshore from western North America during mid-Tertiary time and that the present episode of strike-slip motion in the San Andreas fault system originated after the cessation of subduction, not earlier than 30 m.y. ago. At present, the American and Pacific plates appear to be moving past one another parallel to the San Andreas fault at a rate of 6 cm/yr. Data concerning the late Cenozoic history of motions between these plates is inconclusive, and so 2 probable models are examined. One assumes a constant motion of 6 cm/yr throughout the late Cenozoic, whereas the other assumes that the 2 plates were fixed with respect to one another until 5 m.y. ago, at which time they broke along the San Andreas fault system and began moving at 6 cm/yr. The second model implies that the San Andreas fault took up all the motion at the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates, while the first model suggests the broader view that much of the late Cenozoic tectonic activity of western North America is related to this boundary deformation. The models make testable predictions for the distribution of igneous rocks and for the total amount and timing of deformation expected. Extrapolation of the model of constant motions to the early Cenozoic suggests an era of slightly compressional strike-slip at the edge of North America. A major change in plate motions in late Mesozoic time is suggested.


Introduction: Nevoid hypertrichosis is a rare disease characterized by the presence of terminal hair in a circumscribed distribution present since birth [1] The disorder has been associated with abnormalities of skin and other organs. We present a case of nevoid hypertrichosis associated with spinal dysraphism.
Case Presentation: A 14 year old female presented with a patch of hair on her lower back since infancy (Figure 1). There was history of prolonged low backache. The antenatal and birth history was uneventful. Developmental milestones achieved by her were normal for age. There was no history of urinary or fecal incontinence or lower limb weakness. On examination, a well-defined patch of terminal, dark hair was noted on the lumbosacral region in the midline, though a tuft of hair was not present. Underlying skin was normal. No other cutaneous or mucosal abnormality was noted in the patient. No sensory or motor deficit was elicited. Pelvic radiograph (anteroposterior view) revealed spina bifida at L5 level and scoliosis (Figure 2). No other bony or articular abnormality was found. Vertebral height and intervertebral disc spaces were maintained. Soft tissue appeared to be normal. Based on history and examination, a diagnosis of nevoid hypertrichosis with spina bifida was made.
Discussion: Nevoid hypertrichosis is the presence of well-defined patch of terminal hair present since birth, though it may develop some time after birth as well. Though usually single, it may be multiple and may be present along Blaschko's lines [2]. Reports of depigmented hair also exist [3]. Several case reports suggest an association with cutaneous hypopigmentation, hypertrichosis cubiti and disorders of the eye, face, nails, bones, teeth, central nervous system, gastrointestinal system and respiratory system [4].
Nevoid hypertrichosis has to be differentiated from other causes of congenital hypertrichoses like congenital melanocyticnevus, congenital smooth muscle hamartoma and Becker's nevus. Faun tail deformity is a localized hypertrichosis presenting on the lumbosacral region with a tuft of terminal hair and associated with spinal cord defects. Our patient had features similar to faun tail, but a tuft of hair was absent. Nevoid hypertrichosis persists for life and treatment might be sought for cosmetic reasons. Lasers can be used for hair reduction. Spontaneous resolution of the nevoid hypertrichosis has also been reported [5]. Conclusion This case highlights the fact that patients of nevoid hypertrichosis need to be investigated for other systemic abnormalities.


• To elucidate further the manifestations and mechanisms of neutrophil (PMN) activation, PMNs from control and septic subjects were studied at baseline and under conditions of graded, in vitro activation. At baseline (4°C PMN isolation), septic-derived PMNs were activated, as manifested by twofold increases in fmet-leu-phe (FMLP)-induced oxidative activity and concomitant FMLP surface receptor expression, compared with controls. Following degranulationlike maximal activation (phorbol myristate acetate pretreatment), both PMN populations exhibited maximal FMLP-induced oxidative priming and receptor up-regulation. However, following exudationlike moderate activation (37°C pretreatment), control PMNs underwent significant receptor mobilization and oxidative priming but septic-derived PMNs exhibited oxidative deactivation (decreased FMLP-induced oxidative activity) without changes in FMLP receptor expression. Our data support the theory that while circulating PMNs in sepsis may promote oxidant-related microvascular lung injury, their oxidative deactivation following transpulmonary exudation (simulated by 37°C pretreatment) may underlie the increased incidence of pulmonary infections seen in sepsis-induced adult respiratory distress syndrome. ( Arch Surg 1988;123:171-175)


Who are the shining lights among independent pharmacies for 2004? Once again, Drug Topics invited wholesalers across the country to nominate their independent pharmacy customers who have done a superlative job of providing pharmacy and nonpharmacy services, merchandising or promoting their stores, overcoming competition, and handling crises.


On June 20th, 1996, a submarine land failure in a fjord near the village of Finneidfjord (Northern Norway) developed into a retrogressive quick-clay slide encroaching 100-150 m inland, resulting in the loss of life and significant material damage. Reports in the aftermath of the slide concluded that build up of excess pore pressure may have been the main reason for the slide, though other causes are invoked too. Several field campaigns in the fjord since 1997 consisted of sediment coring, VHR seismic surveys, and long term in-situ instrumentation. To complete offshore data with land data, several geophysical techniques were tested onshore in July 2007. Seismic, GPR and resistivity (method of choice in quick clay) were tried at two sites (one intact and one close to the 1996 slide scar), and all three techniques proved to be useful for a better definition of the underground. Despite clay-prone sites, a 50 MHz GPR antenna was used with success on one site because of the unknown presence of a thick layer of morainic material. Though standard refraction seismic profiles were acquired for P-wave tomography, surface-wave processing tests on the same data gave promising results.


A short cut review was carried out to establish whether ketamine or midazolam is superior at providing safe and effective conscious sedation in children in the emergency department. A total of 203 papers were found using the reported searches, of which four presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are summarised in table 1. It is concluded that midazolam and ketamine have similar efficacy and safety profiles but that ketamine is preferred by parents and physicians.


Context: Acupoint injection therapy with Vitamin B1is very effective in the management of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), and there are few adverse side effects. Aims: The overall purposes of our study are to determine the specific methods of acupoint injection therapy with Vitamin B1for patients with DPN and to demonstrate the effectiveness of this therapy for DPN patients. Settings and Design: The enrolled patients were divided into two groups – the experimental group (75 patients) and the control group (51 patients). Subjects and Methods: We used four main acupoints in our study – EX-B3, ST36, GB39, and GB34. We compared the changes of DPN symptoms, days of pain loss, changes of tendon reflexes, and electromyographic (EMG) parameters between two groups after 15 days of treatment. Statistical Analysis Used: T-test was used to compare the characteristics between different treatments. Results: The best acupoint set for performing the acupoint injection therapy with 5% Vitamin B1, includes EX-B3, ST36, GB34, and GB39. The mean efficiency rate in terms of changes of DPN symptoms was 84.5% that is significantly lower compared with 61.9% of control group. Furthermore, the day of the pain loss of experimental group was significant lower than that of control group and the efficiency rates in terms of patellar reflex and Achilles tendon reflex were 90.0% and 89.1%, respectively (P < 0.05). In the experimental group, EMG parameters were improved significantly. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the acupoint injection therapy with Vitamin B1is preferable, easier, and cost-effective approach in terms of DPN treatment.


Abstract Herein, we report the synthesis and the anion binding properties of a family of N,N′-diphenylureas L1-L15, bearing on the aromatic ring(s) halogens (chlorine and iodine) and/or nitro or trifluoromethyl electron-withdrawing groups. The analysis of the crystal structures obtained from single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments shows that self-assembled chains or tapes connected via N–H···O hydrogen bonds are the most commonly adopted arrangements for this type of molecules in the crystal lattice. In the presence of anion guests or solvent molecules with competing hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, other supramolecular arrangements can be observed. Solution studies conducted in DMSO-d6/0.5% H2O by means of 1H-NMR titrations show the formation of 1:1 adducts with all receptors. The different observed affinities of the receptors for the anion guests were rationalised in terms of steric hindrance of the substituents on the phenyl rings and their electron-withdrawing properties.


The regenerative capacity of viable cells remaining in cryopreserved vascular allografts is still unclear. Recently, the regenerating gene (Reg) has been documented to play an important role in various regenerating tissues. Here we show the possibility of Reg induction for the enhancement of cryopreserved vascular allograft viability. Cryopreserved rat aortae were isografted or allografted heterotopically. Fresh isografts were also tested. The transplants were retrieved 3, 6, 9, and 12 days after implantation and the intragraft Reg mRNA was measured by a real-time quantitative reverse transcriptional polymerase chain reaction method. Reg expression was not detected before implantation. Reg expression in cryopreserved isografts gradually increased after transplantation, whereas in fresh isografts or cryopreserved allografts it decreased over time after initial expression. Daily administration of 0.5 g/kg nicotinamide (an agent known to be a potent inducer of Reg) induced intragraft Reg mRNA in cryopreserved allografts (p < 0.05) accompanied by augmentation of the intragraft cell population. Daily administration of 0.5 mg/kg FK506 (an immunosuppressant) induced intragraft Reg mRNA both in cryopreserved isografts and allografts (p < 0.01). We conclude that Reg-inductive therapy shows promise as a novel strategy for enhancing the viability of vascular allografts. Moreover, FK506 may be involved in tissue regeneration as well as immunosuppression.


The purpose of the current study was to explore if training regimes utilizing diverse training intensity distributions result in different responses on neuromuscular status, anaerobic capacity/power and acute heart rate recovery (HRR) in well-trained endurance athletes. Methods: Thirty-six male (n = 33) and female (n = 3) runners, cyclists, triathletes and cross-country skiers [peak oxygen uptake: (VO2peak): 61.9 ± 8.0 mL·kg−1·min−1] were randomly assigned to one of three groups (blocked high intensity interval training HIIT; polarized training POL; high volume low intensity oriented control group CG/HVLIT applying no HIIT). A maximal anaerobic running/cycling test (MART/MACT) was performed prior to and following a 9-week training period. Results: Only the HIIT group achieved improvements in peak power/velocity (+6.4%, P < 0.001) and peak lactate (P = 0.001) during the MART/MACT, while, unexpectedly, in none of the groups the performance at the established lactate concentrations (4, 6, 10 mmol·L−1) was changed (P > 0.05). Acute HRR was improved in HIIT (11.2%, P = 0.002) and POL (7.9%, P = 0.023) with no change in the HVLIT oriented control group. Conclusion: Only a training regime that includes a significant amount of HIIT improves the neuromuscular status, anaerobic power and the acute HRR in well-trained endurance athletes. A training regime that followed more a low and moderate intensity oriented model (CG/HVLIT) had no effect on any performance or HRR outcomes.


A9 Imaging plays the major role in modern medicine and new generation drugs discovery, contributing as an independent and powerful asset. However, PET [imaging and technology] in particular may act as the unifier source and communicate between all conventional imaging modalities. The only missing link for these sophisticated interactions of high-tech systems is a method, which will accurately predict, direct and control imaging in theory and experiment.
 This work demonstrates Harmonic method exclusively designed for PET-imaging tracers and other technologies development, an instrument as adoptive as universal. Harmonic method executes at all levels of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging, starting from: imaging-tracers development and cell-uptake studies, in vivo and in vivo small-cell populations early detection and structural differentiation, and randomly distributed and independently progressing malignances location and drug-treatment diagnostics at required phases of patients' rehabilitation. Harmonic method is applying special tools: signal complexity (signal/background interconversion), isomerism (principal of tracers' relativity), and targeted drugs' discovery by reporter gene expression (HSV-1 sr39tk and F[18]FXAU); and is operating according by special rules and regulation.
 Conclusion: Harmonism is a self-developing universal method, which allows highly selective and sensitive differentiation (qualification and quantification) of imaging modalities main dilemma: Signal/Background ratios theoretical (mathematical) and experimental (physical) evaluation.


Abstract Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on l‐leucine produced by fermentation with Escherichia coli NITE BP‐02351 when used as nutritional additive or as feed flavouring compound in feed and water for drinking for all animal species. The product under assessment is l‐leucine produced by fermentation with a genetically modified strain of E. coli (NITE BP‐02351). The production strain and its recombinant DNA were not detected in the final products. l‐Leucine, manufactured by fermentation with E. coli NITE BP‐02351, does not give rise to any safety concern to the production strain. The use of l‐leucine produced with E. coli NITE BP‐02351 is safe for the target species when used to supplement the diet in appropriate amounts. It is safe at the proposed use level of 25 mg/kg when used as flavouring compound for all animal species. The use of l‐leucine produced by fermentation with E. coli NITE BP‐02351 in animal nutrition raises no safety concerns for consumers of animal products. The additive is not irritating to the skin or eyes and is not a skin sensitiser. There is a risk for persons handling the additive from the exposure to endotoxins by inhalation. The use of l‐leucine produced by E. coli NITE BP‐02351 as feed additive does not represent a risk to the environment. The additive l‐leucine produced by E. coli NITE BP‐02351 is regarded as an effective source of the amino acid l‐leucine when used as nutritional additive. For the supplemental l‐leucine to be as efficacious in ruminants as in non‐ruminant species, it requires protection against degradation in the rumen. It is also considered efficacious as feed flavouring compound under the proposed conditions of use.


Introduction: Chronic pain is annoying and this may cause reduction of the patient ' s tolerance threshold . Patients suffering from chronic pain experience significant psychological symptoms . This study was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of behavioral - cognitive treatment on decreasing pain intensity in patients suffering from chronic pain . Materials and Methods: The sample of 30 patients diagnosed with chronic pain were divided into two groups , including 14 men and 16 women . Pain intensity evaluation questionnaire was used to collect data , the pre - test , post - test , and follow - up of both control and experimental groups were completed . Behavioral - cognitive treatment was performed during 8 sessions . Results: This study revealed that the mean pain intensity scores in post - test significantly decreased compared to pre - test values . Conclusion: Our results indicated that cognitive - behavioral treatment is effective on decreasing pain intensity in patient suffering from chronic pain .


Alexander Sokurov's 'Russian Ark' is generally acclaimed as a milestone in cinematography. In this film Sokurov reversed the idea of montage, creating instead the sensation of an uninterrupted flow of time encompassing three centuries of Russia's cultural history through a single, 90-minute take. Yet this film is but one milestone in the work of this versatile director. Since the 1990s, Sokurov's films have had international recognition at film festivals and through foreign distribution. In this, the first English-language book to cover Sokurov's full oeuvre, leading scholars on Sokurov unravel his work on documentaries; his early films and literary adaptations; his trilogy on leaders focussing on the decaying body; his films on passing youth and approaching age; and, of course, 'Russian Ark'. The book also provides samples of the major Russian-language studies of Sokurov's films to provide the reader with an insight into Russian approaches to Sokurov.


This paper examines comment letters on firms' annual reports in an emerging market. The literature primarily focuses on comment letters issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), although many other market regulators also use SEC-style comment letters. Comment letters can potentially be very impactful in emerging markets due to weak institutions and low disclosure quality in these markets. Using comment letters in China from 2015 to 2019, I find that the market response to the receipt of comment letters is significantly negative and associated with the severity of the comment letters. The receipt (severity) of comment letters is associated with adverse regulatory consequences, CEO turnover, corrective actions to remedy financial reporting, and poor future financial performance in the propensity score matched sample (recipient sample). Overall disclosure quality in the post-review year does not increase, but some comment letter topics prompt topic-specific financial reporting changes.


Public opinion and election prediction models based on social media typically aggregate, weight, and average signals from a massive number of users. Here, we analyze political attention and poll movements to identify a small number of social "sensors" — individuals whose levels of social media discussion of the major parties' candidates characterized the candidates' ups and downs over the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign. Starting with a sample of approximately 22,000 accounts on Twitter that we linked to voter registration records, we used penalized regressions to identify a set of 19 accounts (sensors) that were predictive for the candidates' poll numbers (5 for Hillary Clinton, 13 for Donald Trump, and 1 for both). The predictions based on the activity of these handfuls of sensors accurately tracked later movements in poll margins. Despite the regressions allowing both supportive and opposition sensors, our separate models for Trump and Clinton poll support identified sensors for Hillary Clinton who were disproportionately women and for Donald Trump who were disproportionately white. The method did not predict changes in levels of undecideds and underestimated support for Donald Trump in September 2016, where the errors were correlated with discussions of protests of police shootings.


textabstractKnee trauma is often seen in general practice. The availability of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has improved the diagnostic possibilities after knee trauma. Nevertheless, little is known about the findings on MR imaging after knee trauma in general practice. Especially, there is little known about bone bruise (a finding seen on MR imaging, but not on conventional radiographs).
In this thesis the available knowledge on the natural course of posttraumatic knee lesions and bone bruise is summarized in two systematic reviews. This shows that, with conservative treatment, the anterior and posterior cruciate ligament can regain continuity after suffering partial or complete rupture. A natural healing response is described after sustained posttraumatic bone bruise.
Next, the results of a study on 134 patients visiting their general practitioner for posttraumatic knee symptoms are presented in this thesis. These patients completed standardised questionnaires and underwent MR imaging of both knees. From the analyses it appears that ligamenteous lesions (cruciate and collateral ligaments) in posttraumatic knees are most probably the result of recent trauma, whereas horizontal meniscal tears and effusion may be pre-existent in many cases.
Bone bruises were encountered in 60% of patients and were related to concomitant knee lesions. Median healing time of these bone bruises was 42 weeks, which is longer than previously described in the literature. Prognosis is particularly influenced by the presence of osteoarthritis. There is no relationship between the presence of bone bruise and pain severity. Hence, the clinical relevance of bone bruise after knee trauma seems small.


Scholars have long argued that state legislative professionalism, or the provision of staff, legislator salary, and session length, has behavioral incentives for legislators and implications for legislative capacity. Scant attention, however, has been devoted to public attitudes on the provision of these legislative resources. Using survey data on preferences for features associated with a citizen legislature versus a professional legislature, we examine the contours of public attitudes on professionalism and test models on the factors associated with these attitudes. Results suggest partisanship, trust, and approval of the local delegation matter, but the factors differ by the legislative professionalism of the respondents state and for low versus high knowledge citizens.


We obviously do not encourage scientific fraud nor misconduct. The goal of this article is to alert the reader to problems that have arisen in part due to the Publish or Perish imperative, which has driven a number of researchers to cross the Rubicon without the full appreciation of the consequences. Choosing fraud will hurt science, end careers, and could have impacts on life outside of the lab. If you're tempted (even slightly) to beautify your results, keep in mind that the benefits are probably not worth the risks.


Business process models are designed in isolation but must be applied in real organizational and business situations. A key management concern is how to identify the nonprocess factors that allow a business process to achieve maximum performance. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of the KNOVA (KNOwledge Value-Added) technique to the problem of making visible the hitherto intangible people, culture, and knowledge factors that can easily influence the success or failure of a business process. We illustrate its application to the processes of a diagnostic team within a department of a large hospital. Two benefits ensue: (1) the articulation of a common understanding of the factors that affect team performance and, (2) the pinpointing of resource investment to maintain performance and reduce risk or cost.


Burundi is part of the secondary centre of diversity for the east African highland bananas (Musa AAAEA). However, Musa diversity in Burundi has declined in the past two decades due to pests, diseases and civil unrest. A Musa germplasm diagnostic survey carried out in three provinces- Gitega in Central, Kirundo in Northern and Cibitoke in north-western Burundi, assessed on-farm Musa diversity, Musa selection criteria influencing Musa diversity and genetic erosion. Musa diversity was determined by the number and relative abundance of Musa cultivars in the study communities. Thirty-three (33) cultivars were recorded across the three provinces. Gitega and Kirundo had a higher Musa diversity than Cibitoke. Low Musa diversity in Cibitoke can be attributed to the existence of a few cultivars adapted to the low altitude; specialization in beer types for the market and the effect of diseases. Though 11 cultivars were widely grown, only four covered 77% of the Burundian banana landscape. These cultivars have a high market potential. The less common cultivars are vulnerable to genetic erosion and hence their conservation is recommended. Flavour, pulp taste and juice quality; and market demand/prices greatly influenced cultivars maintained on farm. 30% of the respondents experienced cultivar erosion, with 69% reporting loss in Cibitoke, 29% in Kirundo and 19% in Gitega. Diseases (89%) were the major cause of this loss. 'Kamaramasenge' (AAB), 'Igisubi' (ABB) and 'Pisang awak' (ABB), respectively were the most affected cultivars. Banana bunchy top disease indiscriminately affects Musa cultivars in the low altitude regions, while the AAB dessert types and the ABB beer types are affected by Fusarium wilt. The high disease burden at low altitudes could partially be responsible for the low Musa diversity in Cibitoke.


The uncertainty of the ground, in which a deep excavation to be conducted, is always inherent. The risk control of the excavation is therefore necessary. Based on the principle features of a deep excavation, a general process of risk control is presented in terms of design and construction, with the application of the observational method. To avoid the conflicts of the involved groups' interests, a close co-operation between the groups in a well planned procedure is vital to the success of the risk control, especially to the case with rapid deterioration stages included.


Objective: The aim of study is to evaluate effectiveness of quilting or tacking mastectomy flap in preventing or reducing seroma formation.
Methods: Study included patients with diagnosed breast cancer. Mastectomy with axillary clearance surgery was done for them. Patients were divided according to the technique of closure of mastectomy flap in to quilting and non-quilting group. Primary outcome were the presence of seroma complication and the amount of fluid collection that require aspiration. Secondary outcome were the mean differences of fluid drained, time to remove drain, stage of disease, level of axillary clearance, distribution of patients according to type of malignancy, oestrogen, progesterone and Her2/Neu receptor status.
Results: Results of the study showed that there was a significant association between type of operation and presence of seroma, more seroma occur among patients treated with non-quilting technique (46.8%) in comparison to quilting technique (20%) (P value 0.012) and more time needed to remove drain among patients treated with Non-quilting technique (with mean 5.74 d) in comparison to quilting technique (with mean 4.74 d). There were significant differences between means of amount of aspiration among patients with seroma (n=29) by study groups, more amount of aspiration among patients treated with non-quilting technique (with mean 144.54 ml) in comparison to quilting technique (with mean 60.71 ml).
Conclusion: Quilting or tacking mastectomy flap to the underlying muscles and fascia to obliterate the surgical dead space is effectiveness in prevention and reduction of seroma formation.


BACKGROUND--As beta adrenoceptor dysfunction occurs in both the normal elderly subject and in young asthmatic patients, the hypothesis was examined that age related beta adrenoceptor changes are important in the pathogenesis of late onset asthma in old age. METHODS--Subjects were non-smokers who comprised 17 young normal subjects of mean (SE) age 29.4 (1.3) years, 17 elderly normal subjects of 67.2 (1.3) years, seven young asthmatic patients of 31.0 (2.8) years, and 17 elderly asthmatic patients of 68.5 (1.4) years. All asthmatic patients withheld inhalers for 12 hours and oral treatment for 24 hours before each study day. Subjects underwent an inhaled methacholine challenge (Newcastle dosimeter method) on two nonconsecutive days. The slope of the flow at 50% of the vital capacity (FEF50) dose-response curve was derived from the percentage fall in FEE50 divided by methacholine dose (sFEF50). Beta-adrenoceptor density (Bmax) and affinity (%KH) were determined with (125I)iodocyanopindolol as the radioligand in membranes prepared from mononuclear leucocytes. RESULTS--Log sFEF50 was shown to be reproducible (repeatability coefficient 0.41) on the two study days and was inversely related to %KH but not to Bmax. Multiple regression analysis (all 58 subjects, overall R2 = 0.57) revealed an inverse relation between log sFEF50 and %KH, and between log sFEF50 and Bmax. The inverse relation between log sFEF50 and %KH was preserved whereas that between log sFEF50 and Bmax was lost when young asthmatic subjects or when all asthmatic subjects were excluded from multiple regression analysis. CONCLUSIONS--The beta adrenoceptor dysfunction observed in late onset asthma may be similar to that seen during ageing. Thus late onset asthma may represent the extreme of a spectrum of age associated beta adrenoceptor dysfunction.


Small medium enterprise (SME) Mr. Honey is an SME that is run by a student of Agribusiness Department Faculty of Agriculture University of Riau in Pekanbaru City. The product is still very simple, nevertheless demand on Mr. Honey's product is still continuing. This may happen due to some attributes on Mr. Honey's product that become the consideration for consumers, so the consumers keep purchasing the product from Mr. Honey. The research aims to analyze the consumers' characteristic, consumers' attitude, and to figure out the performance of SME Mr. Honey. The results showed that the characteristic of Mr. Honey's consumers were single and productive young female, acquiring higher education, as well as having proper and well paid job. The attitude of consumers was positve, shown by the score 20.18 which meant it was good.The performance on attributes that must be maintained by SME Mr. Honey were hygiene attribute, originalitiy, ease in obtaining, and fair price. Meanwhile, the attributes that were include as main priority to be improved were the attachment of nutrition facts on the product, brand, Label of National Agency of Drug and Food Control, and also packaging of Mr. Honey's products.


Alpha 2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein (AHSG) is a negative acute-phase reactant and extra osseous calcification inhibitor. Decreased serum concentration of AHSG is independently related to insulin resistance. To identify the Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) of AHSG gene and assess their association with Type 2 diabetes in South Indian population. The study included 110 normal healthy volunteers, (68 M: 42 F) and 101 T2DM subjects (65 M: 36 F) of M.V. Hospital for Diabetes, Chennai, India. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured. Polymerase Chain Reaction was carried out in the genomic DNAs using primers 5'-GTA AGG CAA CAC TCA GTG A-3' and 5'-TCA TCA CTG CCA TGT CTA G-3'. PCR-RFLP was performed with the amplicon of 731 bp; using the restriction enzyme SacI that cleaves between T and C (GAGCT*C) and produces 709 and 22 bps bands in agarose gel electrophoresis. Results from our study shows that 98 (89.09 %), 12 (10.91%) and no controls had, CC (Thr/Thr), CG (Thr/Ser) and G/G (Ser/Ser) polymorphism respectively. 68 (67.32 %), 32 (31.68 %) and 1 (0.99%) T2DM patients had CC (Thr/Thr), CG (Thr/Ser) and GG (Ser/Ser) polymorphism respectively. This is statistically significant (p< 0.001). AHSG gene Thr256Ser SNP was significantly associated (p< 0.001) with T2DM among south Indian population.


Purpose To present a technique for endovascular treatment of a type A aortic dissection in a patient with multiple prior sternotomies and multiple medical comorbidities. Technique The method is illustrated in a 76-year-old man with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, and open repair of a type A aortic dissection via a median sternotomy. The latter procedure was complicated by a pericardial effusion requiring drainage and sternal re-wiring. The diameter of the residual type A dissection beginning just distal to the aortic root had increased by 1.5 cm over 1 year, indicating the need for further intervention. To avoid redo sternotomy, a hybrid endovascular approach was planned, but it would require landing the stent in the ascending aortic arch, thus mandating branch vessel revascularization. Prior to stent-graft deployment, right-to-left carotid-carotid and left carotid-subclavian artery bypasses were performed with 8-mm polytetrafluoroethylene grafts. Three Talent grafts were deployed from the celiac artery to the left subclavian artery. A pre-wired homemade branched Talent stent-graft (34×34×115 mm) was used to revascularize the innominate artery and secure the arch. Transvenous ventricular pacing was used to improve deployment accuracy. A 10×38-mm iCast stent was placed through the branch and extended into the innominate artery. The subclavian artery was occluded with 2 Amplatzer plugs. Postoperative computed tomography demonstrated excellent proximal fixation, a widely patent branched graft to the innominate artery, and thrombosis of the aneurysmal false lumen. Conclusion Treatment of type A dissections remains a difficult surgical challenge. The approach taken should be tailored for each patient. We successfully employed a combination of available minimally invasive techniques to treat a patient who was not ideally suited to any of the individual strategies.


Summary During tunnelling trials in the Lower Chalk at Chin-nor, Oxfordshire, two techniques for assessing rock quality based on measurement of P-wave velocity were evaluated. Ultrasonic pulse velocity measurements at 54 kHz were made over 0.2 m path lengths at the tunnel face and the conventional hammer seismograph method was used over 10 m path lengths along the tunnel side wall. The ultrasonic measurements were obtained by placing transducers on the flat surfaces of circular grooves cut by the tunnel boring machine picks and provided an excellent method for in-situ evaluation of local variations in the mechanical characteristics of the chalk. In order to obtain the relation between acoustic velocity and geotechnical properties of the chalk in this region of complex fissuring, it was necessary to compare average values of velocity and chalk properties for successive readings over a distance of 1.6 m which is equivalent to ten times the mean distance between fissures. Linear relations were found for acoustic velocity versus both chalk strength and discontinuity spacing for the range of chalk variability that was encountered. P-wave velocities from the hammer seismograph observations over 10 m path lengths showed considerably less scatter than the ultrasonic velocities because such a large number of discontinuities was included in each path length but a significant change in values from the range 1.08-1.27 km/s to the range 1.45-1.64 km/s occurred some 35-40 m from the tunnel portal. This increase is directly associated with the change in ground surface level and consequent increase in overburden stress. Moreover, the velocity ceased to increase significantly at an overburden stress of 0.4 MN/m2, a level that corresponds well with the stress at which a discontinuity became acoustically closed in laboratory tests. The measurements emphasize the fact that, when the P-wave velocity is used as an indicator of rock quality near the ground surface, it is important to take the effect of overburden stress into account.


The laboratory has been seen as a revenue source and its product a commodity. In fact, good laboratories have always provided more of a service. As health care strives to reduce the cost of an episode of care, the laboratory may, ironically, incur additional costs to provide testing that contributes to earlier diagnosis and decreased length of stay. Laboratorians working with physicians and the institution must design processes to reduce cost through decreased utilization and improved decision making. Although materiel managers will continue to perform their traditional functions, they will become more involved in helping to select clinically relevant, cost-effective technologies through the technology assessment process. In order to evaluate new methods and equipment, laboratory expenses must be refined to include workload recording of individual tests and cost accounting of supplies, equipment, facilities and reagents.


This paper draws on narratives of heterosexual identity gathered from among
the members of different generations within extended families in East
Yorkshire. Within single life history interviews we therefore have data which
constitute memories of the past and narrative accounts of the present. What we
explore in this paper are the contradictions and omissions evident in our
material. Thus, for example, some interviewees recall the value they placed on
freedom to explore their sexuality during their adolescence yet, speaking as
parents, emphasise the importance of regulating their children's sexual
experience. Others attribute chastity, monogamy and sexual restraint with an
unquestionably high moral status, yet openly endorse the vagaries of sexual
practice between particular individuals, including themselves. In some cases
these contradictions become apparent to the interviewee and we therefore
explore their reflections on this kind of dissonance. In others contradictions are
apparent only to the researcher. We analyse these narratives as aspects of the
ways in which heterosexuality, as an institution, is produced and reproduced.
Of particular interest are the continuities of heterosexual strategy which may
underpin apparently disparate practices. In addition we concern ourselves with
the ways in which individuals evaluate the 'givens' of heterosexuality,
amending, resisting or transforming the practices through which it is
constituted.


This study explored 36 undergraduates' knowledge construction and implementation of pedagogical competence in pronunciation instruction. These undergraduates were language learners themselves, but they were trained to become language teachers receiving pronunciation instruction in an English Pronunciation Instruction course at a university in Taiwan. Data in this study included interview, document, and videos. This study had the following major findings. First, their language competence, knowledge of phonology and pedagogy were constructed in the tertiary course through the instructor's demonstration and their own teaching practice. Secondly, they demonstrated limited knowledge in explicitly explaining pronunciation features to their learners and designing drill practices. They still needed to acquire more knowledge of phonology and pedagogy in order to design communicative tasks for pronunciation practice. A framework on pronunciation instruction to be included in language teacher education was provided.


This thesis is an explication of the interrelations between three components - the lived worlds of older adults in a specific rural context; the academic context of doctoral research; and an ongoing art practice. The rural context is that encountered around Delphy Bridge, west Bodmin Moor, Cornwall and is approached through a focus on age and connectivity. The academic context is a deep mapping team within a multi-institution research project 'A Grey and Pleasant Land? An interdisciplinary exploration of the connectivity of older people in rural civic society', funded by the UK Cross-Research Council's 'New Dynamics of Ageing' Programme. The art practice is the primary mode through which these contexts, and their intersection, have been engaged.
The thesis argues that this interdisciplinary art-led research - which draws on deep mapping, innovative ethnography, cultural geography and critical gerontology to explore age, place and connectivity - has led to new understandings in distinct but closely interrelated areas. Understandings of older adults' connectivity with and through their lived landscapes, including the potential for 'fruitful connectivity' between long-term residents and 'incomers', have been produced through creative exploration of the material and situations generated through ethnographically-informed art research. Creative and critical reflections on the research progression - from establishing relationships, through to producing new work - has enabled articulation of and reflection on the processes employed in the production of art-led, digital, deep mapping. Insights produced include those into a specific 'space between' a potential tension-interface between the aims of deep mapping and its practice in a peopled environment, and have led to proposing an additional approach to undertaking deep mapping. Drawing on the example of this project, broader insights into the practice of socially-situated art as research within an interdisciplinary academic context are also elucidated.


The urban unrest following the Rodney King verdict was a turning point for the city of Los Angeles, which became the physical stage for violent expressions of protest. Specific "flashpoints" triggered increasing unrest with a particular urban geography. This paper examines how many of the most consequential sites exist today without a palpable trace of the events that momentarily brought visibility to long-standing inequities and that indelibly transformed the city. The study considers the potential of preserving the spatial inheritance of the uprisings as restored sites of resistance, while addressing the pressing needs of disinvested areas today.


Significance Biofilms are microbial cities in which bacterial cells reside in a polymeric matrix. They are commonly found inside soft confining environments such as food matrices and host tissues, against which bacteria must push to proliferate. Here, by combining single-cell live imaging and mechanical characterization, we show that the confining environment determines the dynamics of biofilm shape and internal structure. The self-organization of biofilm architecture is caused by force transmission between the environment and the biofilm, mediated by the extracellular matrix secreted by the cells. Our findings lead to a better understanding of how bacterial communities develop under mechanical constraints, and potentially to strategies for preventing and controlling biofilm growth in three-dimensional environments. Biofilms are aggregates of bacterial cells surrounded by an extracellular matrix. Much progress has been made in studying biofilm growth on solid substrates; however, little is known about the biophysical mechanisms underlying biofilm development in three-dimensional confined environments in which the biofilm-dwelling cells must push against and even damage the surrounding environment to proliferate. Here, combining single-cell imaging, mutagenesis, and rheological measurement, we reveal the key morphogenesis steps of Vibrio cholerae biofilms embedded in hydrogels as they grow by four orders of magnitude from their initial size. We show that the morphodynamics and cell ordering in embedded biofilms are fundamentally different from those of biofilms on flat surfaces. Treating embedded biofilms as inclusions growing in an elastic medium, we quantitatively show that the stiffness contrast between the biofilm and its environment determines biofilm morphology and internal architecture, selecting between spherical biofilms with no cell ordering and oblate ellipsoidal biofilms with high cell ordering. When embedded in stiff gels, cells self-organize into a bipolar structure that resembles the molecular ordering in nematic liquid crystal droplets. In vitro biomechanical analysis shows that cell ordering arises from stress transmission across the biofilm–environment interface, mediated by specific matrix components. Our imaging technique and theoretical approach are generalizable to other biofilm-forming species and potentially to biofilms embedded in mucus or host tissues as during infection. Our results open an avenue to understand how confined cell communities grow by means of a compromise between their inherent developmental program and the mechanical constraints imposed by the environment.


In patients with myocardial infarction, left ventricular sympathetic denervation exceeds the size of the scar tissue. However, little is known about the regional innervation in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) but no myocardial infarction. Using positron emission tomography (PET) with 13N-ammonia and 11C-hydroxyephedrine (HED), resting perfusion and presynaptic sympathetic innervation were studied in eight patients (seven males, one female; 58±9 years) with multi-vessel CAD and no history of myocardial infarction. Using polar map analysis of the PET data, the results were regionally compared with normal databases. The mean HED retention was 8.0%±2.0%·min−1. Myocardial resting perfusion was normal in 23 of 24 vascular territories. Despite normal resting perfusion, significantly reduced HED retention, indicating dysinnervation, was found in 14 of 23 (61%) vascular territories (six of eight patients). Of the dysinnervated territories, 11 (79%) showed angiographically severe stenosis (⩾90% of native vessel/coronary artery bypass graft), eight (57%) showed ischaemia (myocardial perfusion scintigraphy/stress-electrocardiogram) and 12 (86%) had been revascularized. Of the nine segments with normal innervation, two (22%) revealed severe stenosis, two (22%) showed ischaemia and seven (78%) had been revascularized. It can be concluded that, in patients with advanced CAD and normal left ventricular function, dysinnervation can occur in the absence of myocardial infarction. This is consistent with the hypothesis that sympathetic neurones are more susceptible than myocytes to ischaemic damage.


Covering: Up to March 2019Secondary metabolites (SMs) are chemical entities produced by organisms in response to environmental stimuli and as a defense against biological warfare. The production of SMs is controlled by a hierarchical regulatory network involving core factors that orchestrate transcriptional activation of SM gene clusters. In the past few years, significant achievements have been made in the discovery of novel fungal natural products by genetic manipulations of various types of transcriptional regulators. In this review, we summarized the representative regulators for the activation of fungal secondary metabolism and focused on the strategies for the exploitation of these regulators and their application in finding novel structures.


This is an introduction to the special issue of "Ethics as Methods: Doing Ethics in the Era of Big Data Research." Building on a variety of theoretical paradigms (i.e., critical theory, [new] materialism, feminist ethics, theory of cultural techniques) and frameworks (i.e., contextual integrity, deflationary perspective, ethics of care), the Special Issue contributes specific cases and fine-grained conceptual distinctions to ongoing discussions about the ethics in data-driven research. In the second decade of the 21st century, a grand narrative is emerging that posits knowledge derived from data analytics as true, because of the objective qualities of data, their means of collection and analysis, and the sheer size of the data set. The by-product of this grand narrative is that the qualitative aspects of behavior and experience that form the data are diminished, and the human is removed from the process of analysis. This situates data science as a process of analysis performed by the tool, which obscures human decisions in the process. The scholars involved in this Special Issue problematize the assumptions and trends in big data research and point out the crisis in accountability that emerges from using such data to make societal interventions. Our collaborators offer a range of answers to the question of how to configure ethics through a methodological framework in the context of the prevalence of big data, neural networks, and automated, algorithmic governance of much of human socia(bi)lity


The fatty acid composition of 6 Arctic and 14 Antarctic macroalgae species (Rhodo- phyta, Phaeophyta and Chlorophyta) from Kongsfjorden (west Spitsbergen, Arctic) and King George Island (Antarctic Peninsula) was investigated. The macroalgae were cultivated in nutrient-enriched seawater at low temperatures (0 to 5°C) and light conditions similar to natural irradiance. The most abundant fatty acids in the Arctic and Antarctic Rhodophyta were generally 20:5(n-3) and 16:0. The Arctic Palmaria palmata and the Antarctic Audouinella purpurea were characterised by very high proportions of 20:5(n-3) (67.3 and 60.3%, respectively). Other important fatty acids were 16:1(n-7) and 20:4(n-6). Two species were dominated by 20:4(n-6) (Phycodrys rubens, 35.3% and Delesseria lancifolia, 31.1%). In Ptilota gunneri and Rhodymenia subantarctica, 16:1(n-7) accounted for 39.9 and 32.7%, respectively. In the Phaeophyta, the major polyunsaturated fatty acids were 18:4(n-3), 20:5(n-3) and 20:4(n-6) followed by 18:3(n-3) and 18:2(n-6). The principal saturated fatty acid was 16:0. A high percentage of the uncommon monounsaturated fatty acid 16:1(n-5) (11.1%) was found in Desmarestia muelleri sporophytes. Their gametophytes exhibited only traces of this component, but instead had double the amount of 18:2(n-6) and 18:3(n-3). The Arctic chlorophyte Prasiola crispa and the Antarctic Lambia antarctica had fatty acid compositions dominated by the polyunsaturated fatty acids 18:3(n-3) and 18:2(n-6). In L. antarctica, 18:1(n-7) was present at higher levels than 18:2(n- 6). The clear differences in fatty acid compositions of these 3 taxa are probably due to their different evolutionary position. The high proportions of 20:5(n-3) in the Rhodophyta reflect a 'marine'-like character and hence the phylogenetically oldest lineage. The Chlorophyta comprise the most 'mod- ern' group and this is supported by primarily C18 unsaturated fatty acids typical of the vegetative tissue of higher plants. The fatty acid composition of the Phaeophyta support their intermediate posi- tion. The clear differences between the macroalgal taxa, and also variations between species, make fatty acids a potential tracer for studies of food-web interactions.


The bio-availability of two forms of lithium carbonate, Lentolith and Camcolit, was investigated. Serum levels of lithium were measured over 24 hours after different oral dosages. Lentolith gave very adequate serum levels on single daily dosage schedules. Advantages for long-term treatment are discussed.


For the long range inspection of structures in nuclear power plant using array transducers, it is necessary to focus waves on defects under interrogation. To take care of such a need, in this study we adopt a time reversal technique that is claimed to be very robust to focus ultrasonic waves on defects. Specifically, we calculate the appropriate time delay using the time reversal technique and re-generate ultrasonic guided waves that are focusing to an interrogated defect with the calculated time delay. In this paper, we describe the principle of the time reversal technique briefly and present the performance enhancement obtained by the time reversal techniques.


ABSTRACT The species composition and abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates in the Eastern Black Sea were determined seasonally, between May 2013 and February 2014. Sediment was collected using a Van Veen grab, at different depths: 5–15 m, 15–25 m, 25–35 m and >35 m. A total of 320 hauls were undertaken at 80 stations, and 90 species were identified, from seven phyla and 47 families. Overall, Mollusca was the most diverse phylum, with 32 species, followed by Annelida (32) and Arthropoda (13). The most abundant species was Chamelea gallina, which accounted for 37% of the total number of individuals, followed by Gouldia minima (25%) and Pitar rudis (10%). Based on seasonal variations, 62 species were identified in winter, 59 in summer, 54 in spring and 46 in autumn. The highest abundance was recorded in summer, representing 37.8% of the total abundance, followed by spring (25.2%). The species with the highest abundance in all four seasons was C. gallina followed by G. minima. Also, C. gallina followed by G. minima was the most abundant species in Samsun, Ordu, Giresun and Trabzon, whereas in Rize and Artvin, the most abundant species was G. minima followed by C. gallina. The results of this study should provide baseline data for future monitoring, to understand the consequences of natural or anthropogenic disturbance on the species composition and abundance pattern of the benthic macroinvertebrate community along the coast of the Eastern Black Sea.


The discovery of oil in Nigeria in the 1950s has had extremes of both positive and negative impacts on Nigeria's economic, political, social and environmental landscape particularly the Niger Delta Region (NDR). As a consequence, achieving an equitable distribution of oil revenue between all stakeholders has been a principal challenge. This lack of equitable distribution of revenues has led to instability and confrontation
amongst and between some stakeholder groups. The qualitative study conducted with the major stakeholders in NDR was intended to explore the extant corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of international oil companies (IOCs) and how they affect infrastructure development, capacity building and social welfare provision in NDR. It also investigated the current state of relationship between IOCs and other major stakeholders especially host communities in NDR. Stakeholders interviewed included IOCs, NNPC, host community leaders and subject matter experts
The findings from the sample of different stakeholder groups (IOCs, government, host communities and subject matter experts) suggest that participants have good perception of the CSR practices of IOCs within the region. This awareness gave insight into the
factors that shape CSR activities of IOCs in the region. The study also reveals that IOCs are using most of their CSR initiatives to address the infrastructure and social
needs of host communities. Evidently, a number of infrastructure projects are linked to the CSR initiatives of some IOCs.
Findings also point to a paradigm shift in the relationship between a number of IOCs
and host communities in NDR. IOCs now engage host communities in almost all
community development projects through the Global Memorandum of Understanding
(GMOU). This initiative gives absolute control of community development projects to
the Regional Development Committees (RDCs). Therefore there is not much
complexity in identifying the needs of host communities. The study adds that there is
evidence that some IOCs are more committed to the sustainable development of their
host communities. This difference is witnessed in a number of specific projects linked
to given IOCs.
The major findings have been articulated in order to improve CSR practices of IOCs in
NDR as well as encourage a friendly business environment. There is evidence from the
II
study that some host communities are not taking maximum advantage of the
opportunities presented by IOCs in the region. Generally speaking, the face of
government in NDR is the IOCs and this portends a major challenge for all the
stakeholders. The study has provided a CSR roadmap and a sustainable development
approach for the region that can be implemented through a concerted effort by the
quartet of IOCs, host communities, NNPC and State/Local Governments. The
framework can form the basis for future CSR practices of IOCs in the region and
beyond.


We present a novel data-driven regularizer for weakly-supervised learning of 3D human pose estimation that eliminates the drift problem that affects existing approaches. We do this by moving the stereo reconstruction problem into the loss of the network itself. This avoids the need to reconstruct 3D data prior to training and unlike previous semi-supervised approaches, avoids the need for a warm-up period of supervised training. The conceptual and implementational simplicity of our approach is fundamental to its appeal. Not only is it straightforward to augment many weakly-supervised approaches with our additional re-projection based loss, but it is obvious how it shapes reconstructions and prevents drift. As such we believe it will be a valuable tool for any researcher working in weakly-supervised 3D reconstruction. Evaluating on Panoptic, the largest multi-camera and markerless dataset available, we obtain an accuracy that is essentially indistinguishable from a strongly-supervised approach making full use of 3D groundtruth in training.


Abstract In the early 1990s, the geographic range of the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus from the Sea of Japan increased from off southwestern Hokkaido to off northern Hokkaido. This was caused by episodic recruitment in 1989, 1990, and 1991. These recruitments coincided with high water temperature during the larval periods (March to May). In 1993, H. pulcherrimus, at a density of 2.4 individuals/m2 derived from those three year classes, was found at a depth of 2–3 m in Tomari, where it had not been found in 1989. In Oshoro Bay, this sea urchin appeared dramatically in 1990, reached a peak density of 5.3 individuals/m2 in 1992, consisting mainly of 1989- and 1990-y classes. The high-density level of >2 individuals/m2 continued until 1998. Afterwards, no marked recruitment was found, corresponding to low water temperature in spring, and the density decreased markedly to 0.1 individuals/m2 in 2005. High water temperature in the 1990s is more likely to be responsible for the reproductive success of H. pulcherrimus extending to the north. This study suggests the colonization and persistence of the population in the northern district over the species range in 1990s were closely related to the highest seawater temperature in the 20th century.


Interest in the use of transport membrane condenser (TMC) technology for heat and mass recovery from the flue gas of the power plant has been in an increase in recent years. TMC is based on using nanoporous ceramic membrane as a tube wall of the heat exchanger. The heat and mass transfer from the TMC tube bundle have been studied experimentally and numerically, and several models have been proposed to calculate the condensation rate. Researchers have reported that the transport of the flue gas through the membrane condenser involves two mechanisms: the wall condensation and the capillary condensation. However, the dominant condensation mechanism is still under debate and needs more investigation. In this study, a single-phase multi-species model coupled with mixed condensation model was used to investigate the dominant condensation mechanism at different membrane porosity and water vapor mass fraction. The Numerical simulation was executed using ANSYS/FLUENT 2021 R1 software. The mixed condensation model, which is based on the wall condensation and capillary condensation, was written in the user-defined functions (UDF). The flue gas turbulent was modeled using the shear stress transport SST k-ω turbulence model. The results showed that, at the same membrane porosity and water vapor mass fraction, the wall condensation mechanism is the dominant condensation mechanism. As the porosity increases from 0.15 to 0.50, the percentage of the capillary condensation increases from 17% to 50%, which impact in a decrease in the wall condensation percentage from 83% to 50%. Furthermore, about 69% to 87% of the total condensation rate was obtained from the wall condensation mechanism, as a result of an increase in the water vapor mass fraction from 8% to 21%. Consequently, the wall condensation was able to recover more latent heat than the capillary condensation mechanism. The convection Nusselt number decreases as the porosity increases, because of the significant reduction in the effective thermal conductivity of the nanoporous ceramic tubes.


We used a behavioral bioassay to estimate the advantages that two species of gerbils (Gerbillus allenbyi and G. pyramidum) experienced by preferring a semistabilized dune habitat over a stabilized sand habitat. We used the magnitude of foraging effort by the gerbils to signal the difference between the two habitats. When they were foraging as much in stabilized sand as in semistabilized dune, we inferred that these habitats were providing equivalent rewards. We performed a series of experiments in two 1-ha field enclosures, each containing similar proportions of stabilized sand and semistabilized dune. Each enclosure contained a population of only one of the species. By varying the amount of seeds added (either 0.5, 1, 2, or 3 g of seeds in 18 seed trays) to each habitat and monitoring the behavior of the gerbils, we were able to fit a curve that reflected the change in habitat preference as a function of seed addition rate. We were also able to show how much seed addition had to be added to bring the two habitats into equal use. Each species required only 13 g/ha/night to entirely offset the advantage of the semistabilized dune. Copyright 2002.


Hawaijar is a fermented soybean product of Manipur state of India, which is traditionally prepared by fermenting cooked bean wrapped with Ficus (Ficus hispida) leaves in a bamboo basket. Microorganisms isolated from the traditionally fermented product wereBacillus subtilis and Xanthomonas. Individual and combined cultures indicated that B. subtilis would be the organism of choice based on physical and organoleptic attributes. Preservation of the fresh product with acetic and citric acid combinations gave better results than sodium chloride and acetic acid. All the products were evaluated on their organoleptic attributes. The oven-dried product found acceptance by the sensory panelists and was to be similar to the sun-dried product.

 Key words: Hawaijar, Bacillus subtilis, preservation, ficus leaves, organoleptic evaluation.


Literary use of the Gothic is marked by an anxious encounter with otherness, with the dark and mysterious unknown. From its earliest manifestations in the turbulent eighteenth century, this seemingly escapist mode has provided for authors a useful ground upon which to safely confront very real fears and horrors. The essays here examine texts in which Gothic fear is relocated onto the figure of the racial and social Other, the Other who replaces the supernatural ghost or grotesque monster as the code for mystery and danger, ultimately becoming as horrifying, threatening and unknowable as the typical Gothic manifestation. The range of essays reveals that writers from many canons and cultures are attracted to the Gothic as a ready medium for expression of racial and social anxieties. The essays are grouped into sections that focus on such topics as race, religion, class, and centers of power.


For most of the experiments and the practical problems about the non-equilibrium grain-boundary segregation (NGS), segregation will always occur during continuous cooling. The effective-time-method assumed that any continuous cooling curve for a sample can be replaced by a corresponding stepped curve. In this paper, the non-equilibrium grain-boundary segregation of phosphorus in step cooling process in an industrial steel12Cr1MoVis studied based on the effective-time-method and compared with that in isothermal holding process. Results show that the calculated result is in good accordance with the experimental observation. It provides a direct support for the effective-time-method of NGS. The step cooling process can speed-up the embrittlement of the steel. Based on the step cooling technique, a control method of grain-boundary brittleness is proposed.


This thesis measures the tax effort and taxable capacity in Libya and
examines an important research question: " Has the tax burden reached the
level of full tax capacity in Libya?". The main motivation of the study is
the need to diversify the sources of the Libyan economy. To this end the
thesis presents a conceptual framework for tax burden, excess of tax
burden, theory of optimal taxation, concept of taxable capacity, concept of
tax effort.The framework is used to reviews the developments of the
Libyan economy and the impact on tax effort. The thesis has explored
several aspect of tax performance in Libya. First, it analyses the trends of
public revenues, public revenues, public spending in final stances of the
government. Second, it studies the tax structure and the relative importance
of tax sources through the analysis of marginal propensity to tax and the
income elasticity of taxes. Third, it examines the evolution of Libya's tax
system particularly the income tax system. Finally, various econometrics
models such OLS regression, Ordinary ridge regression, and Unbiased
ridge regression are used to measure the tax performance such as tax
burden, tax effort and tax capacity using time series data covering 1970 to
2000, and panel data covering 2001 to 2007. A fixed and random effect
model are used to compare if the determinants of Libya's tax efforts differs
from that of a range of selected oil producing countries. These countries
are: Algeria, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil,
Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire,
Equatorial Guinea, Ecuador, Egypt, Emirates, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala,
Guyana, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Libya, Mauritania,
Nigeria, Oman, Peru, Saudi, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Venezuela,
Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
This research consists of seven chapters: Chapter One provides a
background; Chapter Two provides the literature review; Chapter Three
4
gives a brief overview of the development of the Libyan economy, while in
Chapter Four there is a description of the public finances in Libya; this is
followed in Chapter Five by a review of the tax system in Libya; Chapter
Six presents the study's analyses and findings; Chapter Seven provides the
conclusions and recommendations.
The main findings of this research are: First, in Libya, tax burden per capita
is high; Second, the tax bases in Libya were narrow reflecting the
government's heavy reliance on oil revenue; Third, the level of taxable
capacity in Libya is also low compared to the selected oil producing
countries for a variety of reasons, including: narrow tax bases, failure to
diversify the tax sources, and the public sector being subject to tax. The
argument is presented that the Libyan economy has reached the full
utilization of its taxable capacity.
In addition, the study found that the following factors have a major positive
impact on Libya's taxable capacity and tax effort: the national product of
the service sector, money supply, level of business freedom, level of
economic freedom, currency in circulation and tax penalties. In contrast,
two factors are found to be negatively affecting the taxable capacity and tax
effort in Libya: non-oil exports, oil revenues.
The contributions of this study to the literature are twofold: first, this is the
first of its kind to provide comprehensive analyses of Libya's tax
performance; Second, it has added some new variables such as oil
revenues, non-oil exports, currency in circulation, money supply(M1), and
tax penalties in testing the determinants of tax effort into the model built by
previous researchers. Finally, the research results shed lights on how Libya
government may diversify the Libyan economy and encourage growth in
the non-oil private sector through proper taxation mechanisms.


Since the Middle Ages the Dutch have reclaimed many lakes and parts of the sea, creating polders. Drainage is required to use the land: for the inhabitants, for agriculture and for nature. Traditionally drainage was by gravity: through open (and later pipe) drains excess rainfall was transferred into open collector drains, from where the water was pumped out to a river, lake or the sea. Since the 1950s, land use has been changing towards a more diverse and intensive agriculture, more attention for nature, recreation and continuing urbanization. On top of this, the climate is changing: significant increases in precipitation, both average and extreme. Until recently, the solution to more excess water was to increase pump capacity. Yet the combined problems of climate change, sea level rise, subsidence and urbanization require more structural changes in water management. Drainage systems have to be modified to enable the shift from a strategy of rapid removal of all excess water to one that continuously controls water levels individually in each agricultural plot. A new approach of 'retention, storage and controlled removal' is being used to develop climate adaptation scenarios for the three hydro-ecological zones in the Netherlands, i.e.: (1) the man-made polder areas with marine clay soils along the North Sea coast and the former Zuider Sea; (2) the low-lying peat lands in the west and north; and (3) the sandy and loamy soils areas in the centre, south and east. New approaches for tailor-made drainage solutions following this strategy are being tested in various pilot areas in the three zones. Although the research is still ongoing, this paper presents the lessons learned to date related to the challenges, risks and limitations associated with the introduction of these new drainage strategies for coping with climate change in the Netherlands.


BACKGROUND: Compared to general anesthesia, regional anesthesia confers several benefits including improved pain control and decreased postoperative opioid consumption. While the benefits of peripheral nerve blocks (PNB) have been well studied, there are little epidemiological data on PNB usage in mastectomy and lumpectomy procedures. The primary objective of our study was to assess national trends of the annual proportion of PNB use in breast surgery from 2010 to 2018. We also identified factors associated with PNB use for breast surgery. METHODS: We identified lumpectomy and mastectomy surgical cases with and without PNB between 2010 and 2018 using the Anesthesia Quality Institute National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry (AQI NACOR). We modeled the nonlinear association between year of procedure and PNB use with segmented mixed-effects logistic regression clustered on facility identifier. The association between PNB use and year of procedure, age, sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status (ASA PS), facility type, facility region, weekday, and tissue expander use was also modeled using mixed-effects logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 189,854 surgical cases from 2010 to 2018 that met criteria, 86.2% were lumpectomy cases and 13.8% were mastectomy cases. The proportion of lumpectomy cases with PNB was <0.1% in 2010 and increased each subsequent year to 1.9% in 2018 (trend P < .0001). The proportion of mastectomy cases with PNB was 0.5% in 2010 and 13% in 2018 (trend P < .0001). The year 2014 was the breakpoint selected for segmented regression. Before 2014, the odds of PNB among the mastectomy cases was not significantly different from year to year. After 2014, the odds of PNB increased by 2.24-fold each year (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.00–2.49; P < .001); interaction test for pre-2014 versus post-2014 was P < .001. Similar trends were seen in the lumpectomy cases, where after 2014, the odds of PNB increased by 2.03-fold (95% CI, 1.81–2.27; P < .001); interaction test for pre-2014 versus post-2014 was P < .001. In the mastectomy cohort, year of procedure ≥2014, female sex, facility region, and tissue expander use were associated with higher odds of PNB. For lumpectomy cases, year of procedure ≥2014 and facility region were associated with higher odds of PNB use. CONCLUSIONS: We found increased annual utilization of PNB for mastectomy and lumpectomy since 2010, although absolute prevalence is low. PNB use was associated with year of procedure for both lumpectomy and mastectomy, particularly post-2014.


AbstractThis paper proposes a regularized regression procedure for finding a predictive relation between one variable and a field of other variables. The procedure estimates a linear prediction model under the constraint that the regression coefficients have smooth spatial structure. The smoothness constraint is imposed using a novel approach based on the eigenvectors of the Laplace operator over the domain, which results in a constrained optimization problem equivalent to either ridge regression or least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, which can be solved by standard numerical software. In addition, this paper explores an unconventional procedure whereby regression models are estimated from dynamical model output and then verified against observations—the reverse of the traditional order. The methodology is illustrated by constructing statistical prediction models of summer Texas-area temperature based on concurrent Pacific sea surface temperature (SST). None of the regulari...


The study examined the impact of modern rice technology on the pattern of income distribution by farm size. The analysis was based on primary data collected through personal interviews from 60 randomly selected farmers-30 farmers from irrigated MV and 30 from rainfed LV rice farms. The study was conducted at Keliakair of Gazipur in 1986. Percentage distribution of net farm income per unit area into quartile groups followed by a graphical presentation (Lorenz Curve) was used to achieve the study objectives. The major findings of the study are :(i) MV rice having irrigation facilities has increased per unit area of farm income of the lower group resulting in a decrease in the income gap between the poorer and the richer groups. The reverse was observed in rainfed LV rice cultivation. (ii) For irrigated MV rice farms the smaller the farm size, the higher was the share of net farm income pe r unit area resulted to a greater equality in income distribution pattern among farm families and (iii) Negatively skewed distribution of net farm income per unit area was observed in rainfed LV rice cultivation.


Nelson identifies three principal institutions involved in conflict resolution: the twon meeting, the church congregation, and the courts of law. He subsequently determines the type of cases over which each institution had jurisdiction and studies the procedures by which each functioned. He examines the tendency after 1800 to bring disputes to the court and sees this as a response to the introduction of new, nontraditional values not held by local institutions.Originally published 1981.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.


This thesis is concerned with the problem of reproducing a desired sound field with an array of loudspeakers. A theory based on functional analysis and the theory of integral equations is developed for the study of this problem. An attempt is made to develop a mathematical framework that can be adopted as a generalized theory of sound field reproduction. The reproduction problem is formulated as an acoustical inverse problem, in which the target sound field is given on the boundary of a control volume located in the interior of the loudspeaker array, while the loudspeaker signals required for the reproduction of the desired field are to be determined. The loudspeaker array is initially modeled as a continuous distribution of secondary sources, mathematically represented by a single layer potential, whose density is to be determined. The singular value decomposition of the integral operator involved is proposed as a method for solving the inverse problem. Closed form expressions are derived for the singular system for the cases of secondary sources arranged on a sphere and on a circle. An attempt is also made to extend the calculation to unbounded geometries, such as an infinite line and a plane. The inverse problem under consideration is in general ill-posed, and the existence and uniqueness of its solution are studied in relation to sound fields of practical interest. It is shown that an exact and unique solution exists for a large family of sound fields. Strategies are proposed for overcoming the problem of nonexistence and nonuniqueness of the solution, arising in cases such as the reproduction of focused sources or when the operating frequency corresponds to one of the Dirichlet eigenvalues of the control region. An important analogy is also drawn between the problem of sound field reproduction and the theory of acoustic scattering. In a later part of this work, the assumptions of a continuous layer of secondary sources and of a single operating frequency are removed, and the resulting consequences are analyzed. The experimental validation of some of the theoretical results is described in the final part of the thesis. A large spherical loudspeaker array is used in an attempt to reproduce the sound field generated by a single virtual source, located in the exterior of the array. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical results over a wide range of frequencies.


The objectives pursued by governments managing fisheries may include maximizing profits, minimizing the impact on the marine ecosystem, or securing employment, which all require adjusting the composition of the fishing fleet. We develop a management plan that can be adapted to those objectives and allows the regulator to compare the long-run profits between the various management options. We apply the model to the case of Northeast Arctic cod, and estimate the cost and harvesting functions of various vessel types, the demand function, and a biological model to provide key insights regarding the optimal management of this valuable fish species.


Boverket, a governmental agency in Sweden, has the goal to regulate so that all new buildings will be near zero energy buildings from 2020 and one way to reach this goal is to install a solar photovoltaic (solar PV) system on the building. Commercial buildings, such as office buildings, usually have a daily electricity use profile that is well matched with electricity generation from a solar PV system. The price for solar PV today is about a fifth of the price in 2006. Under these conditions, it is interesting to investigate the potential for using solar PV in Swedish office buildings. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the economic feasibility for solar PV in Swedish office building from a technical, economical and legal perspective. The purpose is also to investigate existing PV system installations in office buildings. These purposes are processed with help of a number of research objectives where load profiles were studied for buildings with different cooling systems, evaluation of existing PV systems and an economic analysis of PV systems with different locations, orientations, slope angles for different load curves were performed. The research objectives were examined with a case study approach. Measured data for property electricity load and electricity generation from existing PV systems for five different office buildings was examined. An analysis of the matching of electricity load and electricity generation for existing PV systems for five buildings was made in order to investigate how the systems were sized and mounted with respect to the available roof space, roof conditions and electricity load for the buildings. The electricity load data was then used in the study where simulated electricity generation for different system configurations with different slope angles, orientations and azimuth angles were matched with the property electricity load profiles for the examined buildings. This matching was then used in an economic evaluation with today´s technical, legal and economic conditions to evaluate how different system configuration affects the profitability. The conclusions that could be drawn from this study are that a PV system investment can be profitable with today´s conditions from a property owner's perspective and that the choice of slope and azimuth angles for a PV installation is important for the profitability. There is an optimal system size in terms of profitability which is different for different electricity load profiles. At this optimum there was some percent of overproduction. An increased use of solar PV in Sweden is possible; the technical, legal and economic conditions are today good enough. However, a study including a larger number of buildings corresponding to typical Swedish office buildings is required to draw any general conclusions regarding the potential of solar PV.


Abstract. The hydroxyl free radical (OH) is the major oxidizing species in the lower atmosphere. Measuring the OH concentration is generally difficult and involves elaborate, expensive, custom-made experimental setups. Thus other more economical techniques, capable of determining OH concentrations at environmental chambers, would be valuable. This work is based on an indirect method of OH concentration measurement, by monitoring an appropriate OH tracer by proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). 3-pentanol, 3-pentanone and pinonaldehyde (PA) were used as OH tracers in α-pinene (AP) secondary organic aerosol (SOA) aging studies. In addition we tested butanol-d9 as a potential "universal" OH tracer and determined its reaction rate constant with OH: kbutanol-d9 = 3.4(±0.88) × 10−12 cm3 molecule−1 s−1. In order to make the chamber studies more comparable among each other as well as to atmospheric measurements we suggest the use of a chemical (time) dimension: the OH clock, which corresponds to the integrated OH concentration over time.


This is part of a series of quarterly reports of consumer credit trends produced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau using a longitudinal, nationally-representative sample of approximately five million de-identified credit records maintained by one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. This eighth report explores how the volume and types of bankruptcy filings have changed throughout the period 2001-2018, which includes the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) and the Great Recession. The report considers changes in the attributes of bankruptcy filers by analyzing credit scores and the amount of debt consumers hold prior to bankruptcy.


Due to the recent event, happening around the world, the E-Learning approach has continued to increase at a rapid pace at universities and institutions. However, eventhough the use of e learning has grown and the e-learning progress is high and give strategic positioning, the question remain is that how the current user look at the usage of e-learning in their learning process. There are still many challenges in E-learning implementation and process  The study use factor analysis method using SPSS in this study, Descriptive statistic, factor analysis, KMO & Bartlett's test, rotated component factor are utilized in this study to have test battery outcome. The study uses 23 sample from Asia-Pacific International University in Thailand. With respondend from Indonesian students and lecturer. The results shows that factors in the analysis of e-learning usage at Asia-Pacific International University. The following are factors the approval of respondent of the e-learning usage in the university that helped them: System Visibility, Material Relevance and Depth using E-Learning, Support Class Learning, and System Connectivity, Help Option & Documentation, System Design, Appearance & Color, Error & Shortcut & System Repair Guide. These factors is the result of the study that was divided in three components they are   "System Support," "System Design," and  "System Repair." Thus, the features shown in the results such as system support, system design and system repair can help management in maintaining and enhancing e-learning program.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a dog safety program on the protective behaviour knowledge of children in the first year of school. This mixed methods study utilised pre- and post-testing (N = 121), observation of six sessions and individual interviews with a sub-group of children (N = 49). These interviews utilised a co-constructed narrative strategy where children were invited to assist an imaginary alien to safely navigate hypothetical safety scenarios. All schools improved their knowledge of safe dog interactions, with an overall increase in knowledge of 18%. Most children were able to apply abstract knowledge to hypothetical scenarios involving accompanied and unaccompanied dogs. Of concern, 24% of children still believed that dogs liked being patted on their heads and 16% of children had not overcome their intuitive reaction to run from a threatening dog. Whilst the program has made significant improvements to children's knowledge of safe dog-interactions, more gains can be made. We identify important opportunities for improving dog safety programs in general. We comment on the need to consider the impact of different models of child–dog relations in terms of either similitude or difference.


With the advent of knowledge economy era, the man is becoming the key factor to achieve his own strategic objectives. Therefore,in the development of the electric power Industry, the development, utilization and management of human resources have become not only the key factor of electrical enterprises' economic growth, but also form the strategic resources of enterprises' core competitiveness directly. Consequently, Human Resource Management becomes the main question electrical enterprises' management. The purpose of human resource management is to put all staff to the best use and put them in the proper positions in order to bring all their creativity. Competition mechanism can fully motivate the staff's initiative and creativity. That can allocate human resources rationally. Job Bidding is a competitive merit-based, effectively encouraging and energetic working mechanism which is formed during the practice of personnel reform in electrical enterprise.